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Follow the steps for stage 3 of the essay planning process and upload here. Find this the "7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan" document pp. 5-7.

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Do not miss this document: It contains the question and instructions for your research essay.

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Look at p. 5 of "7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan" for more details of how to write quick notes. Adding this is optional.

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Try and read this before coming to our tutorial. Prepare to talk about certain aspects of your essay.

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A "Must-Read" for students intent on scoring high marks！

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Upload your filled in "Blank Essay Plan" here, please.

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Look at this document adapted from 7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan (2022) (helpfulprofessor.com) . It contains seven steps helping you to plan and, ultimately, write your essay. Try and plan your essay before our tutorial. (Complete up until step 5 or 6 before your Week 8 tutorial!)

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Read through this article

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This page gives information on academic writing style in English. It includes a list of 10 rules for academic style. The page also includes a style checklist for your writing, as well as some exercises to help you practice this area.

What is academic style in English?

Academic English, like any writing, has its own conventions or 'style'. It is a formal, written style, which means that it has aspects which make it different from 'spoken' academic English, and at the same time, being 'formal', it is quite different from ordinary writing which you might use in letters, emails, or stories.

This section considers 10 'rules' for good academic writing in English. Although rules are never a good idea for any form of study (because there are always exceptions), they are usually a good place to begin. These rules are concerned with the use of:

Rule 1

Use formal vocabulary, such as words from the academic wordlist (AWL), and words for numbers up to ten. Avoid less formal or idiomatic vocabulary.

✓ Many fathers nowadays...

✓ Major urban centres, such as London and Beijing...

✗ Major urban centres, like London and Beijing...

✓ There are a significant number of people who believe...

✗ There are lots of people who believe...

✓ There are three main reasons for this.

✗ There are 3 main reasons for this.

Rule 2

Use formal verbs instead of two-word verbs.

✓ increase, decrease, discuss, improve, deteriorate, continue, raise

Rule 3

Use the full form of verbs, not contractions.

✓ do not, cannot, will not, did not

Rule 4

Use formal grammar structures, such as nominalisation (noun phrases) and clauses, rather than too many simple sentences.

✓ The increasing pollution of the environment is a global concern.

✗ The environment is increasingly polluted. This is a global concern.

✓ Note-taking, which is an important skill for EAP students, is difficult to master.

✗ Note-taking is an important skill for EAP students. It is difficult to master.

Rule 5

Use statements. Avoid rhetorical questions, which are less formal (though these are common in spoken academic English, i.e. lectures and presentations).

✓ There were four main reasons for the decline.

✗ What were the reasons for the decline?

✓ Written English is different from spoken English.

✗ How are written and spoken English different?

Rule 6

Use impersonal language, such as 'There is...', 'It is...', or passive voice. Avoid personal pronouns (I, we, you, etc.) and adverbs which show your feeling (e.g. luckily, remarkably, amazingly).

✓There are three main problems.

✗ I can think of three main problems.

✓ In the experiment, the water was heated...

✗ In the experiment, I heated the water...

✓ There were very few errors in the experiment.

✗ Amazingly there were very few errors in the experiment.

Rule 7

Be as precise as possible. Use exact figures or values wherever possible, rather than 'about' or 'several'. Use words such as 'factor', 'issue', 'topic', 'aspect' instead of vague words such as 'thing'.

✓ There are three main reasons for this.

✗ There are several reasons for this.

✓ The turning point was in the late 1980s.

✗ The turning point was about 30 years ago.

✓ There were three factors which led to this result.

✗ There were three things which led to this result.

Rule 8

Be sure to cite your sources. Avoid making vague claims.

✓ Russell (2001) states that over 50% of the population are unaware of the problem.

✗ Everybody knows that most people are unaware of the problem.

✗ Most people are unaware of the problem.

Rule 9

Use hedging (i.e. tentative language), such as 'possibly', 'probably', 'may', 'might', 'appears to', and 'seems to' to qualify statements. Avoid absolute statements and words such as 'always'.

✓ Education may reduce crime.

✓ It appears that education reduces crime.

✗ Education reduces crime.

✓ This is possibly caused by the effects of global warming.

✓ This may be caused by the effects of global warming.

✗ This is caused by the effects of global warming.

✓ ESL students often make mistakes with tenses.

✗ ESL students always make mistakes with tenses.

Rule 10

Use appropriate transition signals to make explicit (i.e. clear) links between ideas and to introduce new sections of an essay. Avoid numbering or bullet points (except in certain reports), and basic transitions to begin sentences (e.g. 'And', 'But', 'So'). Also be careful not to use too many transitions ( not at the beginning of every sentence!).

✓ Turning to the question of inflation...

✓ In addition, inflation is an important factor.

✗ And inflation is an important factor.

Checklist

Below is a checklist for academic style. Use it to check your own writing, or get a peer (another student) to help you.

You need to login to view the exercises. If you do not already have an account, you can register for free.

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Academic writing requires formal vocabulary, formal verbs, impersonal language, precision and tentative language. Study 10 rules to improve your style.

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Ulster Library Guide - HARVARD REFERENCING 

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Ulster Library Guide - HARVARD REFERENCING 

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Referencing can be difficult: check you've got it right here!

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Struggling With the Structure of this Essay? 

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Struggling With the Structure of this Essay? 

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Watch this video for tips on writing compare and contrast essays. See the link to the article below

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This video gives information on what a compare and contrast essay is and how to structure this type of essay.本视频提供有关什么是比较和对比文章以及如何构建此类文章的信息。 See: https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/essays/candc/

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You will be expected to reference at least three sources. Here are two core texts you should reference!

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Use "Essay Plan Example and Explanation" and "Seven Steps for Writing an Essay Plan" to write this document. Send it to me before our appointment in week 8.

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Watch this for more information on academic style.

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This video gives information on academic writing style, with a list of 10 style rules.此视频提供有关学术写作风格的信息，并列出了 10 种风格规则。 For more, see: https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/style/

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Finding it hard to find some important resources: take a look at this document here.

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Struggling? Read some more here...

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Compare and contrast is a common form of academic writing, either as an essay type on its own, or as part of a larger essay which includes one or more paragraphs which compare or contrast. This page gives information on what a compare and contrast essay is, how to structure this type of essay, how to use compare and contrast structure words, and how to make sure you use appropriate criteria for comparison/contrast. There is also an example compare and contrast essay on the topic of communication technology, as well as some exercises to help you practice this area.

What are compare & contrast essays?

To compare is to examine how things are similar, while to contrast is to see how they differ. A compare and contrast essay therefore looks at the similarities of two or more objects, and the differences. This essay type is common at university, where lecturers frequently test your understanding by asking you to compare and contrast two theories, two methods, two historical periods, two characters in a novel, etc. Sometimes the whole essay will compare and contrast, though sometimes the comparison or contrast may be only part of the essay. It is also possible, especially for short exam essays, that only the similarities or the differences, not both, will be discussed. See the examples below.

Compare and contrast Newton's ideas of gravity with those proposed by Einstein ['compare and contrast' essay]

Examine how the economies of Spain and China are similar ['compare' only essay]

Explain the differences between Achaemenid Empire and Parthian Empire ['contrast' only essay]

Structure

There are two main ways to structure a compare and contrast essay, namely using a block or a point-by-point structure. For the block structure, all of the information about one of the objects being compared/contrasted is given first, and all of the information about the other object is listed afterwards. This type of structure is similar to the block structure used for cause and effect and problem-solution essays. For the point-by-point structure, each similarity (or difference) for one object is followed immediately by the similarity (or difference) for the other. Both types of structure have their merits. The former is easier to write, while the latter is generally clearer as it ensures that the similarities/differences are more explicit.

The two types of structure, block and point-by-point, are shown in the diagram below.

Compare and Contrast Structure Words

Compare and contrast structure words are transition signals which show the similarities or differences. Below are some common examples.

Compare

Examples

Computers can be used to communicate easily, for example via email. Similarly/Likewise, the mobile phone is a convenient tool for communication.

Both computers and mobile phones can be used to communicate easily with other people.

Just like the computer, the mobile phone can be used to communicate easily with other people.

The computer is similar to the mobile phone in the way it can be used for easy communication.

Contrast

Examples

Computers, although increasingly small, are not always easy to carry from one place to another. However, the mobile phone can be carried with ease.

Computers are generally not very portable, whereas the mobile phone is.

Computers differ from mobile phones in their lack of portability.

Computers are unlike mobile phones in their lack of portability.

Criteria for comparison/contrast

When making comparisons or contrasts, it is important to be clear what criteria you are using. Study the following example, which contrasts two people. Here the criteria are unclear.

Aaron is tall and strong. In contrast, Bruce is handsome and very intelligent.

Although this sentence has a contrast transition, the criteria for contrasting are not the same. The criteria used for Aaron are height (tall) and strength (strong). We would expect similar criteria to be used for Bruce (maybe he is short and weak), but instead we have new criteria, namely appearance (handsome) and intelligence (intelligent). This is a common mistake for students when writing this type of paragraph or essay. Compare the following, which has much clearer criteria (contrast structure words shown in bold).

Aaron and Bruce differ in four ways. The first difference is height. Aaron is tall, while Bruce is short. A second difference is strength. Aaron is strong.In contrast, Bruce is weak. A third difference is appearance. Aaron, who is average looking,differs from Bruce, who is handsome. The final difference is intelligence. Aaron is of average intelligence. Bruce,on the other hand, is very intelligent.

Example essay

Below is a compare and contrast essay. This essay uses the point-by-point structure. Click on the different areas (in the shaded boxes to the right) to highlight the different structural aspects in this essay, i.e. similarities, differences, and structure words. This will highlight not simply the paragraphs, but also the thesis statement and summary, as these repeat the comparisons and contrasts contained in the main body.

Title: There have been many advances in technology over the past fifty years. These have revolutionised the way we communicate with people who are far away. Compare and contrast methods of communication used today with those which were used in the past.
Before the advent of computers and modern technology, people communicating over long distances used traditional means such as letters and the telephone. Nowadays we have a vast array of communication tools which can complete this task, ranging from email to instant messaging and video calls. While the present and previous means of communication are similar in their general form, they differ in regard to their speed and the range of tools available .

One similarity between current and previous methods of communication relates to the form of communication. In the past, both written forms such as letters were frequently used, in addition to oral forms such as telephone calls. Similarly, people nowadays use both of these forms. Just as in the past, written forms of communication are prevalent, for example via email and text messaging. In addition, oral forms are still used, including the telephone, mobile phone, and voice messages via instant messaging services.

However, there are clearly many differences in the way we communicate over long distances, the most notable of which is speed. This is most evident in relation to written forms of communication. In the past, letters would take days to arrive at their destination. In contrast, an email arrives almost instantaneously and can be read seconds after it was sent. In the past, if it was necessary to send a short message, for example at work, a memo could be passed around the office, which would take some time to circulate. This is different from the current situation, in which a text message can be sent immediately.

Another significant difference is the range of communication methods. Fifty years ago, the tools available for communicating over long distances were primarily the telephone and the letter. By comparison, there are a vast array of communication methods available today. These include not only the telephone, letter, email and text messages already mentioned, but also video conferences via software such as Skype or mobile phone apps such as WeChat, and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

In conclusion, methods of communication have greatly advanced over the past fifty years. While there are some similarities, such as the forms of communication, there are significant differences, chiefly in relation to the speed of communication and the range of communication tools available . There is no doubt that technology will continue to progress in future, and the advanced tools which we use today may one day also become outdated.

Checklist

Below is a checklist for compare and contrast essays. Use it to check your own writing, or get a peer (another student) to help you.

You need to login to view the exercises. If you do not already have an account, you can register for free.

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Find out how to write a compare and contrast essay and understand the difference between block and point-by-point structure.

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This document is an example essay plan. Please use it in conjunction with "Blank Essay Plan".

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The Ultimate Guide to Harvard Referencing 

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The Ultimate Guide to Harvard Referencing 

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Check the numbers in your feedback against the list here

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Still can't handle the serial number problem very well. I think it is necessary to list six differences, because without differences, the necessity of integration cannot be highlighted. However, I found it easy to read each difference as a subheading followed by an explanation.

In addition, I can't find specific examples to support the idea of integrating management accounting and financial accounting, because almost all modern enterprises do so. Therefore, I emphasized the necessity of integrating the two -- improving the enterprise financial management system and coordinating the enterprise operation data information. I'm sure this part is not beside the point.